The following performing rights organizations collect
composersŐ and publishersŐ airplay royalties. Note that these royalties include
moneys collected from radio, television, film, live performance, digital and
web broadcasts just to name a few.

Synchronization licenses are mandatory when an entity wants to synchronize music
or audio with a video image. Synchronization licenses typically involve a publisher
and a SRCO (sound recording copyright owner). In many cases, this means a publisher
and a record company. For MDC students, this typically means that a company producing
a film, video or video game will need to acquire permission for the use of the
intellectual property (PA) and the sound recording (SR) from the student.

Synchronization licenses are negotiable because there
is no statutory rate set for a sync license. For more information, please visit: www.loc.gov/copyright

The Harry Fox Agency is the largest music licenser in the
world. Harry Fox collects mechanical royalties for publishers. They no longer
negotiate synchronization rights.

Sound Exchange is a U.S. government agency. This non-profit
entity collects digital broadcast royalties for artists, SR copyright holders
and musicians who perform as side-musicians on recordings. If you are a
recording artist, SR copyright owner or studio musician, you must register with
Sound Exchange in order to collect payments. For more information, please see: www.soundexchange.com

Government websites for the U.S. Copyright Office, Small
Business Administration and the Internal Revenue Service can be found at:

Performances

Advertising

Distribution & Sales

Rack jobbers, wholesalers, retailers, direct mail, internet.

Sub-publishers & Licensees

Domestic and foreign markets.

Types of publishers:

Independents –
small companies who are often under the umbrella of a larger major publisher.
These companies may belong to the Association of Independent Music Publishers.
They tend to charge a percentage for administration duties and donŐt usually
market or ŇpushÓ the material.

Majors – most
record companies have manage or administrate their own publishing affiliate.
Examples would include Sony/ATV, BMG, Warner/Chappell, Universal and EMI to
name some.

Recording company affiliates – these are smaller companies affiliated withthe companies mentioned above. The
affiliates may have access to many new writers and materials and then use the
major publishers to take care of administration, marketing and placement of
songs with artists.

Artist-owned companies
– when artists who also compose will rather administrate their own
publishing than give up profits.

Writer-owned companies
– as with the artists, the writers administrate their own works in order
to maximize profits.

Educational publishers
– these are publishers who specialize in music for educational
institutions and ensembles.

Specialty publishers
– these are publishers who specialize in a niche market. Some of these
include Gospel, choral, jazz and childrenŐs music publishers.

Concert music (classical music) – these publishers specialize in classical
music. A large part of their income comes through the rental of repertoire to
orchestras.

Sub-publishers
– Publishers who deal with very specific markets that may be uncharted
territory for larger companies.

Licensees –
these companies issue licenses to television and film producers, video games,
churches and anyone wanting to use their material. Harry Fox is the largest and
most well known licensing company in the world. The Canadian Mechanical Rights
Reproduction Agency or CMRRA, is the Canadian counterpart to the Harry Fox
Agency.

TERMS, DEFINITIONS AND INFORMATION

Mechanical royalties are monies paid by a record company for
the right to use a song in records. Effective January 1st, 2004, the
standard maximum statutory rate is currently 8.5 cents for a 5-minute song and
1.65 cents for every additional minute or fraction thereof. This rate increases
over time in order to keep up with inflation.

Note that the rate in Canada is 7.7 cents for the first 5
minutes and 1.54 cents for every additional minute or fraction thereof. Also
note that this is paid in Canadian pennies.

Record companies most often try to pay a reduced rate of
mechanical rates. They most often ask to pay on 75% of the minimum statutory
rate. This means they want to pay 75% of 8.5 cents or 6.375 cents for each song in question. This also means they
want to pay 6.375 cents even if the song is longer than 5 minutes.

Synchronization rights or sync rights are issued to users
who want to ŇsyncÓ to music to a visual medium such as film. These licenses are
on a one-to-one basis and are negotiated individually.

Effective January 1, 2006, the mechanical royalty rate will
increase to 9.1 cents for songs up to 5 minutes in length. Songs longer than 5
minutes will earn 1.75 cents per minute or fraction thereof.

Since youŐre an expert
writer and my talent is business, letŐs do a publishing deal and split
everything 50-50. You get the writerŐs money and IŐll take care of publishing.

ItŐs the smart way to
go. After all, you want to write and you donŐt have time to drive around from
radio station to radio station and collect your money. Are you?

Our standard deal is
for 5 years. Most people want to sign for a lot longer but we want to give them
the opportunity to explore other options if theyŐre not happy after 5 years.
Trust me, most people never want to sign with another publisher after they sign
with us.

Welcome aboard. Just
sign here.

You have made a great
decision joining our team. YouŐre going to hear your music on the radio and
itŐs going to be on millions of records. Just wait until those checks start
coming in.Ó

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS TO TOO MANY WRITERS.

Please note that 8.5 cents is written as .085. Similarly,
1.65 cents is written as .0165.

You must convert this numbers to their correct form in order
to compute the mechanical royalties correctly.